Facing closure, North Forest ISD seeks A&M partnership

Updated 7:02 pm, Thursday, February 7, 2013

North Forest ISD superintendent Edna Forté at district headquarters, July 28, 2011. (Eric Kayne/For the Chronicle)

North Forest ISD superintendent Edna Forté at district headquarters, July 28, 2011. (Eric Kayne/For the Chronicle)

Photo: Eric Kayne, Freelance

Facing closure, North Forest ISD seeks A&M partnership

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Trustees of the troubled North Forest Independent School District Monday voted to open talks with Texas A&M University about a "strategic partnership" in which the university would take over day-day-operations of the district's 10 schools.

North Forest attorney Chris Tritico said a plan, to involve the 7,000-student district's teaching and possibly its financial operations, could be developed in the next three weeks.

"How extensive that's going to be, well, we haven't started talking," Tritico said. "At the end of the day, we envision A&M shoring up our educational output, bringing us up to par. At the end of this period, North Forest could be one of the better-run districts...an example of how to really turn a struggling district around."

The agency had planned to order the district's closure last July. In March 2012, however, then-TEA Commissioner Robert Scott gave North Forest a one-year reprieve.

TEA spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said her agency "is willing to see what they come up with." Still, she said, the possibility of a TEA closure order, mandating that the district's students be educated by Houston Independent School District, looms. By state law, such a decision must be made no later than July, she said.

North Forest High School has received TEA's lowest rating for six years, and ninth graders taking standardized end-of-course exams trailed the state average by about 20 points.